Games and entertainment

We've already celebrated Pi Day, Tau Day, and Nigel Tufnel Day this year. Now it's time to commend the commode, show some love to the latrine, and praise the privy. Saturday, November 19 is World Toilet Day. Yippee!

The year in toilet tech It's been a busy year for toilet tech news. We met a toilet seat that can handle 1,000 pounds of humanity. Japanese toilet manufacturer Toto created a motorcycle that runs on the power of people poo.

We also found proof that connectedness is just as important in the loo as it is outside of it. Tablet owners (35 percent of them) fessed up to taking their devices to the toilet.

Tempted by toilet inventions? Urine luck! A creative maker fashioned a toilet paper dispenser that prints off Twitter feeds. Kohler unveiled a $6,400 toilet that already has a tablet to control its functions. You can still bring your iPad along for more entertainment options, though.… Read more

Netflix has notched another key deal with a movie studio to bolster its streaming service when it launches in the U.K. and Ireland next year.

Earlier today, Miramax and Netflix announced a multiyear licensing agreement that will bring many of the studio's top films, including "Pulp Fiction," "Good Will Hunting," and "Gangs of New York," to the streaming service.

This is the second movie deal Netflix has announced this week for its European streaming service. On Monday, Lionsgate said that Netflix will be the exclusive provider of its first-run films streaming in … Read more

Netflix now has a key partner it can count on as the company prepares to enter the European market.

Lionsgate today announced that it has signed an agreement with Netflix that will make the rental company the exclusive provider of its first-run films streaming in the U.K. and Ireland. However, as with previous deals Netflix has signed with studios, Lionsgate won't immediately provide the films to the streaming provider. Instead, Lionsgate's new and upcoming titles, including "The Hunger Games" and "The Expendables 2," will make their debut on Netflix "within one year … Read more

Doesn't Zynga have enough headaches getting ready for its initial public offering?

The social-gaming company yesterday suffered a distraction from its IPO plans after The Wall Street Journal reported that Zynga CEO Mark Pincus last year demanded unvested stock back from some employees who, he believed, didn't deserve to hold so many shares in the company. If the employees didn't hand over the shares, the Journal reported, they would face termination.

That report cropped up at the worst possible time for Zynga. The social-gaming company is planning to offer its shares after Thanksgiving. Given the state of … Read more

Attracting top employees can be difficult for cash-strapped startups. So, in many cases, they give out company stock to supplement salaries that employees might feel is below-market.

Zynga followed that strategy. But now the CityVille and FarmVille maker apparently wishes it hadn't, according to a new report.

Citing industry sources, The Wall Street Journal reported today that Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, along with his top executives, decided last year as they were preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) that they had given out too much stock to employees. But rather than accept that reality, the executives reportedly tried … Read more

Microsoft is planning a major revamp of its Xbox.com gaming site this week to boost its social-networking features and give certain areas a new Metro-based paint job.

As detailed in an Xbox blog post last night, Microsoft is replacing the current "My Xbox" section on the site with a new area simply called "Social." The new Social section will let gamers see what their friends are doing and tap into a new Beacons feature that will be available in the next update to the Xbox 360 dashboard. Beacons will allow people to mark the games … Read more

Whether you're an aspiring producer or just itching to drop a beat, Beatlab makes it fast, easy, and fun to forge a quick track.

Many of us march to our own rhythm, sometimes unconsciously. We see it everywhere: commuters bobbing their heads on the way to work, students lost in their music players, or even those who beatbox under their breath when they think no one else is watching. Don't kid yourself; we know you've done it, too, at some point. Artists, musicians, and producers consciously try to tap into this rhythm when they are brainstorming or … Read more

For those who like to play video games, or who let their kids play, a new study linking gaming to creativity in 12-year-olds may be very validating.

It reminds me of the little flutter in my chest that occurs every time I read about the health benefits of dark chocolate. Or perhaps that flutter is due to how quickly I race to the chocolate stash in my pantry.

But I digress. The research out of Michigan State University, published online in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, suggests that of the 491 12-year-olds studied, the ones who play video games tend to be more creative, regardless of whether those games are violent--and that the more they play, the more creative they are.

Head researcher and psychology professor Linda Jackson says these findings should encourage game designers to investigate which aspects of gaming are more responsible for this creative effect.

"Once they do that, video games can be designed to optimize the development of creativity while retaining their entertainment values such that a new generation of video games will blur the distinction between education and entertainment," she says in a news release.… Read more

YouTube will soon offer its own original programming, The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing anonymous sources.

According to the Journal, Google could announce original programming exclusive to YouTube as early as next week. The Journal's sources said that Google has inked deals with InterActiveCorp's Electus, News Corp., and "CSI" creator Anthony Zuiker to create content for its site. Celebrity skateboarder Tony Hawk has also reportedly signed a deal with Google.

Reports of Google trying to bring original content to YouTube first cropped up in April. At the time, the Journal reported that the company was … Read more